Poverty in Society - Bangladesh

Walking over the bridge I have noticed several beggars and thought nothing more than walking past. People tell me, giving to them only attracts others to yourself and the area. Today was different; I stopped and gave some money then carried on with my day. Something had changed today because after I met up with two young ladies in a Bangladesh coffee shop, one from Bangladesh, a Muslim and the other from china, a Christian. We talked about helping people and asked me to go to church with them the following Friday. We talked about the circumstances of been poor in a poor country and how seeing poverty effects us as human beings wanting to help, looking for answers to help these poverty torn countries and their people. I spoke of other countries, what I had seen and the effects it had on me as a person. I explained that eventually on my return to the United Kingdom I had many terrible memories of terrible poverty. I have become accustomed to seeing such sites but now wish to explain how as people who care can help these poor people around the world.

Here in Bangladesh I have met some wonderful people that do understand the problem and find that special part in their heart to help. This is my first time mentioning such poverty and would like offer you information on how you can help here in Bangladesh and the rest of the world. You simply can’t imagine how difficult it is to survive under such difficult conditions which for most has become a competitive environment, even for the poor fighting for a status in society in what little work and money they have. Many don’t even have a family. The terrible stories of self mutilation to become beggars fighting to provide for families are simply shocking. Other stories exist but I wish not to mention about them for my own safety.

I have been in an Asian country without money under difficult circumstances and knew at one point I would need help in finding a meal. The first day when I ran out of money through unemployment I was offered a meal by an English teacher who had travelled from South Korea on holiday. I was also offered a job in South Korea. I was lucky having understandable parents that could supply me with the air fare to my next destination another eye opener on other accounts. For some simply having a passport protects us against such problems but for those who will never leave their country you can imagine how simple and difficult their lives have become, there is no escape.

I have learnt a lot today that giving a little can bring huge rewards in a natural achievement in helping someone and takes less than one minute. Knowing you have helped someone eat, drink or supply medication for sickness has a great sense of satisfaction. Some are natural givers, some give occasionally, I gave today because something had changed and helped me realise I can help too. Please check out this website for more information on how you can help, what others are doing to help and the reason why there is a huge demand for people who care. You can help and learn more about the cause by understanding about poverty around the world.

http://www.carebd.org/

Pahela Baishakh or Bangla New Year

Bangladeshi new Year is an exciting occasion at the school when students sing songs, wear beautifully coloured cultural clothing and eat lots of tasty Bangla food. I haven't eaten so much for years and it's such a vibrant celebration.

WE celebrate Pahela Baishakh or the Bangla New Year's Day today. Everything under the sun looks gay and cheerful and colourful, one is suddenly struck by the beauty of the grass, the sky, the trees - each and everything around looks pretty and radiates joy and happiness. It seems that the tired and weary sun of 1405 that set last evening carried along with it all the gloom, all the sorrows, all the melancholy and misery. Nothing that is painful or dull or dreary is left for 1406, and the sun rising with a new spirit and vigour this morning, rises in its full glory, radiating nothing gloomy, nothing sad, nothing pensive but only hope and happiness for the days to come.
Pahela Baishakh is indeed a momentous occasion in the life of each and every Bengalee. It is the first day of Bangla calendar year.

To every Bengalee, young and old, rich and poor, wise and ignorant, it is a time of gaiety to be celebrated with great merry-making, to be enjoyed in every possible manner, an occasion which enables us, in the words of Tennyson, to drink life to the lees.' It is a cruel irony of fate that a few orthodox Muslims in our country, shrouded by sheer ignorance, look down upon this Nababarsha festival, simply because they inadvertently consider it to be a festival of non-Muslim origin. But there is no shadow of doubt that the Bangla calendar that we follow today was introduced by the Muslims in this sub-continent.

The Pahela Baishakh so warmly celebrated all over the country today originated not from Bangladesh, but from an entirely different part of this sub-continent more than thousand miles away. What is more, the Bangla Saal was introduced not by any Bangladeshi but by a non-Bengalee in whose grandfather's vein flowed the blood of both Gengis Khan and Tamerlane.